| 摘要 |
1,103,490. Universal joints. GENERAL PRECISION SYSTEMS Inc. 12 Aug., 1966 [2 Sept., 1965], No. 36241/66. Heading F2U. [Also in Division G1] A two-degree-of-freedom gyroscope comprises a rotor driving shaft 14 and a rotor 12 the shaft 14 being connected to the rotor 12 by a universal joint flexure unit 16 comprising an inner unit 104 and an outer unit 106, the inner and outer units being connected in parallel between the shaft and rotor. The shaft 14 is rotated in bearings 76, 78 by an electric motor 18, and the rotor 12 comprises a hub 36, web 38 and an annular channel-shaped rim portion 40. The gyroscope is provided with a torquer 32 mounted in the annular rim portion and a pickoff arrangement 34. The inner flexure unit 104, Fig. 5, comprises two outer gimbal portions 110, 112 and a middle gimbal portion 108 which is in the form of a rectangular block. The portions 112 and 108 are joined by two flexure bars, as 124, which have necked-down centre parts and flex about an axis 116. Only one of these two flexure bars is shown, the other being disposed on the far side of the middle gimbal portion 108. The portions 110, 108 are connected by two further flexure bars 118, 120 identical to the bar 124 and flexing about an axis at right-angles to the axis 116. The outer flexure unit 106 also comprises two outer gimbal portions and a middle gimbal portion which in this case is in the form of an annular disc 150, Fig. 11. The outer gimbal portions 152, 154 are also annular and have the same radius as the disc 150. Only two small parts of each of the two portions 152, 154 are shown, the major part of one, 152, being disposed above and the other 154, below the plane of Fig. 11. Flexure bars 160, 162, having necked down centre parts, join the gimbal portion 152 to the disc 150 and flex about an axis 156. Identical flexure bars 164, 166 join the gimbal portion 154 to the disc 150 and flex about an axis 158 orthogonal to the axis 156. These axes are coaxial with the corresponding ones of the inner unit 104, but the plane containing the flexure bars 160, 162, 164, 166 is normal to those planes containing the flexure bars of the inner unit 104. The unit 104 is mounted in the space inside the annular outer unit 106, the two outer gimbal portions at each end of the units 104, 106 being connected together and to the driving shaft 14 at one end and the rotor 12 at the other end to provide the desired connection between the shaft and rotor. The middle gimbal portion 108 of the inner unit 104 is provided with adjustable weights to allow adjustment of the flexing characteristics of the unit 16 at different desired rotor spin speeds. |
